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Social media for retirement communities (CCRCs) - Understanding what you can do, should do and why when marketing to seniors through social networks. Deck from September 2010 webinar presented by Todd Harff and Creating Results Strategic Marketing
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Social Media for Retirement Communities
What You Can Do,
What You Should Do,
And Why
Presented by Todd Harff
©2010 Creating Results, LLC
Agenda
• Benefits of Social Engagement• What Social Media Is• Who Is Using Social Media• How They’re Using It• What You Can Do• What You Must Do
Hourly Commitment Per Week
Confidence in Your Social Media Strategy
Have a Social Media Policy
Is Social Media Marketing worth my company’s investment?
What can it do for us today?What can it do for us tomorrow?
Benefits of Social Engagement
• Drive traffic – Generate leads
– Branding, name recognition
– Lift and substitute for traditional advertising and community outreach
– Lift search results
– Lift web traffic
– Connect with media
– Leverage the networks of your Residents, their families, supporters and employees
Benefits of Social Engagement
• Listen, get feedback
• Improve relationships with all stakeholders
• Find vendors, sources, partners and prospects
• Recruit
• Inspiration
Social Media:
What It Is
When you boil it down,
it’s about listening to your customers,
being helpful by offering your knowledge and
giving them interesting content
to share and thereby advocate for you.
- Amy Mengel
Social Networking Defined
• The stops your brand’s message makes
• Faster, wider, more transparent
• Fewer barriers between you and your audience
• Less control
• Interactive and instant
Platforms and Tools
• Social Networking Sites – Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter…
– Niche sites – industry or passion
• Social (Content) Sharing– YouTube, Flickr
– Digg, De.li.cio.us, reddit
• Online Conversations– Blogs
– Message boards, forums
– Comments
• Podcasts
• Wikis
Social Media:
Who Is Using It and How
Social Media:
How They Are Using It
Creating Results’ Research: Silver & Social Surfers
• National survey of 40+ Internet users plus video in-depth interviews
• Look at motivations, ease of use, attitudes
Primary Reason for Trying Social Networking
Work/career29%
Connect w/ friends16%
Friends invite14%
Family invite9%
Connect w/ family7%
Old friends5%
Never tried4%
Photos4%
Curious/No reason9%
What Would Motivate Trial?
Pressure from Friends4%
Better Understanding/ Clearer Advantages
15%
Better Privacy Controls7%
Connect with Family4%
More Time4%
Forced by Work4%
Absolutely Nothing62%
Do You Want To Engage With Companies Through Social Networks?
No30%
Not Really29%
Maybe23%
Yes18%
Creating Results’ Research: Silver & Social Surfers
• Anti-Social Media?
– “I am enrolled in social networking to reconnect with friends not to be bothered with advertisements.”
– “I see this as my personal time. If I were out with friends I wouldn’t want a business to try to join us.”
– “Maybe it would be okay with LinkedIn.”
Social Engagement:
What You Can Do
1. Monitor
• Know what people are saying …– About you– Your company– Your competitors– Industry trends
• Resources:– Google alerts,
SocialMention, Twilert– Search w/in platforms– RSS and email subscriptions
2. Recruit
• Advertise job opportunities
• Build positive brand image with future hires
• Resources:– LinkedIn – used by nearly
80% of companies recruiting with social media … and proving most successful
– Twitter – jobs feeds
– SlideShare – case studies on social recruitment
3. Extend your brand’s reach
• Generate awareness
• Be introduced to new circles by a “friend” who vouches for you
• Find new channels to distribute content
• Resources:– AddThis
– YouTube, Digg, etc.
4. Drive traffic
• Link to your website in content, on personal/ professional profiles
• Promote events
• Resources:– Bit.ly (for shorter links)
– Facebook events
– Flickr (for post-event photo galleries)
5. Boost natural search results
• Backlinks to your site from highly-valued websites
• Drive more and new traffic to your website
• Start a blog
• Join or start conversations (w/ backlinks)
• Real-time tweets included in results delivered by Google, Bing, Yahoo
6. Listen
To what they say … and how they say it …
• On your channels, promote conversation and encourage honest feedback
• On other channels, “eavesdrop” Listen & Learn
6. Listen
• Resources:– TimeGoesBy.net (especially
the comments! Great list of elderbloggers, too)
– Eons
– A Place for Mom
7. Learn
• Ask questions and get answers– Of industry colleagues– Of residents – Of prospective residents
• Find metrics and benchmarks and best practices• Resources:
– LinkedIn, Facebook, et al– Association platforms– SlideShare, blogs, more
8. Build community
• Start first by proving yourself a valuable member of existing communities
• Share relevant news/resources
8. Build community
• Make it easy for your audiences to connect with each other– You provide the spark
– They interact freely (unfiltered)
• Spotlight contributors, influencers (in a genuine way)
• Loss of message control
• Involve your audience
• Create a dialogue
8. Build community – Engagement
9. Make friends
• Give. Give generously. Give frequently.– Of your time– Of your content– Of discounts & freebies– On your platforms– In comments on others’
platforms
• Play match-maker for resources, partners, influencers
• Make it easy for them to share your news
10. Provide customer service - Monitor
• Monitor for issues and quickly respond – The earlier you respond the more effective you can be
• Respond to requests on and offline
• Resources:– Google alerts, Twitter searches (Hootsuite, Co-Tweet)
10. Improve customer service – Deliver?
10. Improve customer service - Deliver
• Use social networks to make relationships with prospects/targets feel more intimate
• Fill seniors’ insatiable need for information by providing more details
• Resources:– Twitter, Flickr
– 1to1media.com
And …
11. Encourage user generated content
12. Run contests
13. Run a location-based promotion or implement a loyalty rewards system for staff, residents or prospects
Social Media:
What You Must Do
Where to Start
1. Set simple policies to guide social engagement
2. Develop a strategic social media plan
3. Commit resources
4. Educate yourself
5. Face Reality
Face Reality
• Even contagious messages die– 10% forward rate would be great
• Reach and Frequency now cheap – The new challenge => Getting people’s attention
Face Reality
• Brand messages are no longer in your control– If you invite users to upload
photos … be prepared and welcoming of a bunch of old wrinkly people
– Know how you’ll handle negative/off topic comments
• It takes time and commitment
Baby Boomers and seniors still value a personal, direct, one-to-one feeling
You don't need a social media strategy –You need a brand strategy that leverages social media.
Don't get off the brand strategy just because there's a new communications channel,
that's how you lose the plot as a brand. Technology is the tail, not the dog.
- Chris Kirubi, Coca Cola Nairobi
Todd Harfftodd@creatingresults.com
703.494.7888 ext 13
Blog: maturemarketingmatters.comWeb: CreatingResults.com
Twitter @ToddHarff @CreatingResults
everything mature consumers experiencebranding | marketing | web | pr | displays | advertising
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